White Noise
by steve.a
Summary: Athena wakes up drenched in a cold sweat. This is not unusual for her. But tonight, she's not alone. Juniper/Athena, oneshot.


**A/N:** Old, quick Junithena. Kind of DD spoilers?

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**WHITE NOISE**

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Athena wakes up drenched in a cold sweat.

This is not unusual for her. It's also not unusual for her fist to be shoved in her mouth (to stopper a scream) and for her eyes to be shut so tight that tears have sprung into them. Athena pulls her hand away from her mouth and lets out a shaky sigh. She turns on her side. Her heart is thudding in her ears.

Unusually, somebody shuffles beside her on the bed. An achingly familiar voice: "Thena?"

"Ah, shoot," Athena whispers. She had forgotten that she wasn't alone. She's turned so that her back is facing Juniper, but her muscles are sore and she's too exhausted to flip over. "Sorry I woke you up."

Athena feels a warm, gentle hand on her bare shoulder. "Are you okay, Thena?" There's that shy, earnest concern in Juniper's voice, something Athena has grown used to. "You're sweaty."

"Just a nightmare." Athena carves out a weak grin, even if her friend can't see it. "No big deal."

Athena imagines the worried frown pulling at Juniper's lips, the way her brows must be knitting together and her eyes flitting nervously to the side. That particular expression hasn't changed over the years, only now the face it belongs to is older, soft and beautiful, so different from (and yet also astoundingly similar to) the cute childish roundness from her memories.

"Okay," Juniper finally says, in that gentle way of hers. "Do you want to talk about your dream, at least?"

"Not really." Athena is glad that Juniper does not withdraw her hand from her shoulder. She shivers a little, imagining the coldness she'd leave behind. "It's always the same kind of dream."

"Mm, I see," murmurs Juniper.

_Sadness and worry,_ Athena notes.

After a few moments, Athena feels the weight of a second hand on her, Juniper's palm stroking her back in a soothing circular motion, pausing occasionally to adjust the thin fabric of Athena's tank top. Gradually, Athena's heartbeat slows and evens out.

This position—Juniper's right hand steady on Athena's shoulder and her left massaging Athena's back—is familiar to them, and makes Athena remember far back to before seven years ago. Junie would be there to comfort her then too, back when Athena would sometimes get overwhelmed by all the people surrounding her, by the noise coming from their voices and from their hearts, and it would feel like a heavy wave was crashing over her and drowning her and her hands would alternately clutch at her headphones and her tear-tracked face. And Juniper, so frail and timid herself, would always be there kneeling at her side, and the soft warmth of her voice (even when marred by sadness and worry) could pierce through all the other noise to reach Athena and tether her to the other girl.

It's reaching for her now, too, as a different kind of noise (from inside her own heart this time) creeps up her throat and steals her breath and her sleep away.

_Blood—noise—Mom—blood—knife—flesh—blood—_

Her heartbeat quickens again, even as she blinks to find herself in her bedroom, breathing normally.

"Try to think of other things," Juniper suggests softly. Her breath tickles the back of Athena's neck. "Like what you'd like to do tomorrow. It's a Saturday—I don't have school. We can spend all day together."

"Yeah," Athena mumbles, a hollow fatigue in her voice, the kind that drains her of all her usual energy but still won't let her sleep. "Sorry, again, that I woke you up, Junie."

"Don't apologize," she says, quietly and immediately. "You shouldn't just lie there alone when you have bad dreams."

The weight of her hand vanishes from Athena's shoulder but before she can start feeling cold, an arm snakes around her chest. Juniper's fingers rest against Athena's collarbone and Athena feels a warm set of lips press against the back of her neck. Her heart skips a beat, more out of surprise than anything—Juniper is usually painfully timid during the daytime, even around her.

Juniper's lips move against her skin. "What would you like to do tomorrow, Thena?"

"I dunno." Athena's mind, usually bursting with excitement and vaguely defined plans that tend to involve orange juice, is always strangely muddled during nights like these. Absently, she reaches up a hand to tangle her clammy fingers in Juniper's warm, smooth ones. "Hang out with you, I guess?"

Juniper giggles. "Well, I sure hope so," she mumbles, carefully kissing the back of Athena's neck again. "I have a lot of homework I'm neglecting, but we so rarely get to spend time together."

Athena hums in agreement. Weariness weighs down her eyelids, but she doesn't want to return to her dreams, not yet. "What do _you_ want to do tomorrow?"

"Oh, anything." Juniper gives her fingers a firm squeeze. Her voice is still heavy with sleep, but is also soothing and familiar in a way only Junie's voice can be. "We can make breakfast together, go jogging—as long as you promise not to go too fast—or even better, go for a walk in the woods. We can drink juice and just watch Pink Princess reruns all morning if you want. We can go to the park, invite Mr. Wright and Apollo to lunch, watch Trucy's show..."

Junie's cascading, directionless suggestions wash over her, relaxing her tense and tired muscles one by one, gingerly leading her thoughts away from the black pit of anxiety and blood hovering at the edges of her mind and guiding them towards warmer prospects. Athena closes her eyes as her heartbeat is brought—again—back into normalcy.

"We can visit that new aquarium, or go to the movies." Juniper laughs softly. "We can clean your apartment, buy a new toaster, play checkers..."

Athena snorts. "_Play checkers?_"

Juniper laughs again.

Gradually, Juniper's voice trails off, and Athena feels Juniper's lips trace a tingling path from her hair to her upper back.

"Gee," Athena murmurs, "you're unusually kiss-y tonight."

"Not that you're complaining, of course," Junie finishes her thought. She rubs Athena's knuckles briefly and then pulls back her arms, tugging on Athena so she gets the hint and finally flips over. The two girls lie face-to-face. Juniper smiles. "Feeling better?"

Athena grins back. "Way." She dips her head forward to quickly touch her lips to Junie's nose. "Thanks," she breathes.

Juniper shifts forward so she is snuggled closer to Athena, and Athena in turn buries her face into the hollow of Juniper's neck. Juniper whispers into her hair, "Ready to sleep again?"

"I don't know," she admits. She leans deeper into Juniper, breathes in her faint flowery scent. "Maybe."

"Okay," Junie says easily. "Take all the time you need, Thena."

They fall into silence then, and Athena focuses on the rhythm of Juniper's breathing. There's no noise now, but Athena doesn't need her hearing to tell that the voices of their hearts have settled into the same key.


End file.
